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Residents are still working to clear trees after storm damage

It’s been nearly a week since tornadoes ripped through northeast Ohio, and crews are working to restore power and clean up the damage. For some people, however, the cleanup and rebuilding process hasn’t been as easy as they would have liked.

Olivia Lynch, 85, has lived in Cleveland for more than 30 years and says she has never experienced a storm like the one that hit the area on Tuesday.

“I was just about to roll down the window and fell between the bed and the dresser. I heard something crack and that’s all I remember. I think I passed out,” Lynch said.

Lynch says the sound came from a tree that fell three houses down. Her tenant, Yolanda Isom, had just rushed to the basement when the three hit her house.

As I was walking through my kitchen, the kitchen window shattered, which made me run even faster. We sat in the basement for 15 minutes and then when we came back up, we saw this huge tree that was over 10 feet tall,” Isom said.

The tree shattered four windows in her home, knocked out power to two houses, blocked one of her exits, and fell on Isom’s car, totaling it.

“I had to throw out my entire refrigerator and freezer. I work in Brooklyn and live in Cleveland. Since I don’t have a car, I can’t get to work,” Isom said.

Over the past few days, they have spoken to several tree removal companies about removing the tree. Lynch says most companies say their equipment is too small.

“They can’t move the tree until the lighting company comes and grounds the lines because apparently there are three live lines back there that they have to ground before the tree service company can even do anything with them,” Isom said.

Isom says they are unsure when the lines will be grounded, and to speed up the process, they have reached out to the city for help.

“The house that the tree belongs to is two houses down and it’s an abandoned house. The city said there was nothing they could do because it’s not a city tree, it’s a private owner’s tree,” Isom explained.

Because the house is privately owned, Isom said the owners would have to bear the cost of removing the tree.

“I’m living by faith right now because I feel like that’s the only way to get it done. If not, I’m going to go crazy trying to find that person myself and get them to do what they need to do to get the process started,” Isom said.

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By Olivia

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